MassachusettsAgencies

Petersham Police Department

City agency in Worcester County. How it reports to the FBI, and the rules its arrests run under.

Reporting to the FBI

Population served
1,256 (FBI figure, 2025)
Incident reporting
No NIBRS start date in the FBI's list.
Months sent in 2025
0 of 12
FBI agency code
MA0143800

Source: FBI NIBRS master file 2025 batch headers; names from the FBI agency list, pulled 2026-09-29.

After an arrest

Who decides release first

When court is closed, a bail commissioner or a district court clerk-magistrate sets bail; neither is a judge. When court is open, a judge sets bail at arraignment. A person arrested for violating an abuse prevention order or for some domestic abuse charges can't be bailed for 6 hours except by a judge in open court.

G.L. c. 276, s. 57
Time to see a judge

A person arrested and not released must be brought to court for arraignment the same day if court is in session, or at its next session. The rule sets no hour limit. The U.S. Supreme Court's 48-hour rule for a probable cause finding applies as the federal floor.

Mass. R. Crim. P. 7(a)(1)

Crime and arrests

No figures yet

This agency's reported offenses, clearances, and arrests appear here once the agency series is published.